Gaseous electric discharge device



April 25, 1933. SKAUPY ET AL 1,905,759

GASEOUS ELECTRIC DISCHARGE DEVICE Filed June 4, 1951 INVENTORS ATTORNEYPatented Apr. 25, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRANZ SKAUPY, OFIBERLIN-LICHTERFELDE, HANS EWEST, OF BERLIN, AND HANS PULFRIOH, OFBERLIN-BAUMSCHULENWEG, GERMANY, ASSIGNORS 10 GENERAL ELECTRIC COMIANY, ACORPORATION OF NEW YORK GASEOUS ELECTRIC DISCHARGE DEVICE Applicationfiled June 4, 1931, Serial No.

The present invention relates to gaseous electric discharge devicesgenerally and more particularly the invention relates to such devices inwhich the gaseous filling consists wholly, or in part of a common gas.

It is well known in the art that common gas used in gaseous electricdischarge devices is cleaned up during the operation of the device withdisastrous results. For this reason many devices have been resorted tofor feeding common gas replenishments to such gaseous electric dischargedevices such as the Moore valve well known in the art. More recentlysubstances which generate common gas when heated have been used in thecontainer of gaseous electric discharge devices and various means areused to accomplish the heating of these gas evolving substances, suchmeans being described in co-pending applications Serial Number 372,964,filed June 22, 1929, being the invention of Alferd Riittenauer andMartin Reger: Serial Number 381,036, filed July 25, 1929 being theinvention of Marcello Pirani and Kurt Nitschke and Patent Number1,831,950, granted November 17, 1931 and being the invention of HansEwest and Martin Reger. These gas evolving substances commonly consistof a compound of a carbonate and a substance which has a decompositiontemperature and pressure of as high a degree as the carbonate, such asberyllium carbonate, potassium carbonate, magnesium carbonate ordolomite.

It has been found that in such gaseous electric discharge devices thecarbon dioxide evolved by the carbonate compound is changed incomposition under the influence of the electric discharge in said deviceto form nascent oxygen which isabsorbed by the electrodes and the glasswalls of the container of the device. The products, other than nascentoxygen, resulting from this decomposition of the carbon dioxide arecarbon monoxide, which is gaseous, and carbon suboxide, which is solid.This latter substance collects on the electrodes and on the walls of thegaseous electric discharge device, during the course of time, and formsdeposits of light absorbing material thereon. The object of the presentinvention is to prevent 542,166, and in Germany July 18, 1930.

tion of deposits of light absorbing material in such device. Stillfurther objects and advantages attaching to the invention will beapparent to those skilled in the art from the following particulardescription and from the appended claims.

The invention attains its objects by mixing an oxide compound with thecarbonate compound. The oxide compound has approximately the same decomosition pressure and temperature as the car onate compound so thatoxygen will be evolved thereby at approximately the same pressure andtemperature that carbon dioxide is evolved by the carbonate compound.Suitable oxide compounds for use in the invention are for example,praseodymium oxide, magnesium superoxide or potassium permanganate. Inoperation, therefore, the oxygen present in the gaseous discharge pathwith the carbon dioxide is in such quantities that any solid carbonsuboxide formed is changed immediately by burning to carbon dioxide orcarbon monoxide and thus deposits of the light absorbing carbon suboxideon the electrodes or the glass walls of the container of the gaseouselectric discharge device are prevented. In the drawing accompanying andforming part of this specification an electric discharge deviceembodying the invention is shown in a side elevational view.

Referring to the drawing the electric dis charge device comprises acontainer 1 having two electrodes 2 and 3 sealed therein one at each endthereof. Said electrodes 2 and 3 are connected by leads 4 and 5respectively to the secondary 6 of the transformer 6, 7. A ballastresistance 19 is connected in serles with the primary 7 of saidtransformer 6, 7. A cylindrical, metal container 9 is located in anoff-set tube 8 attached to said container 1. Said container 9 ispervious to gas and is filled with a pulverized mixture of a gasevolving carbonate compound and a gas evolving oxide compound. A heatingfilament 11 is embedded in the mixture in said container 1 and isconnected by leads 16 and 14 to the secondary 18 of the transformer 17and 18. The primary 17 of said transformer 17, 18 is connected into thelead 4 of the electrode 2. Said transformer 17, 18 furnishes sufficientpotential to heat filament 11 so as to cause an evolution of as from thegas evolving material in said container 9 but not enough to heat saidcontainer 9. Where desired, the carbonate compound and the oxidecompound is pulverized, mixed and then pressed into the form of a rodand heating filament 11 is wrapped around it to cause the evolution ofthe gas during the operation of the device.

As pointed out above the oxide compound, such as praseodymium oxide,magnesium superoxide, or potassium permanganate, and the carbonatecompound, such as beryllium carbonate, potassium carbonate, magnesiumcarbonate, or dolomite placed in said container 9 have approximately thesame decomposition temperature and pressure so that oxygen and carbondioxide are enerated simultaneously by said compoun s respectivelyduring the operation of the device. The oxygen present in the dischargepath along with the carbon dioxide is in such quantities that any solidcarbon suboxide formed is changed immediately by burning into carbondioxide or carbon monoxide and thus the formation of deposits of thesolid, light absorbing carbon suboxide on the electrodes or the glasswalls of the container 1 is entirely avoided.

While we have shown and described and have pointed out in the annexedclaims certain novel features of the invention, it will be understoodthat various omissions, substitutions and changes in the forms anddetails of the device illustrated and in its use and operation may bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from the broad spiritand scope of the invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, 1s:

1. An electric discharge device comprising a container, electrodessealed therein, a gaseous atmosphere therein, and two or more differentgas evolving materials in said container adapted to evolve gas when.heated, the gas evolved by one gas evolving material being adapted totransform to a gas those solid materials formed from the gas evolved bythe other gas evolving material which are reactive with said first namedgas.

2. An electric discharge device comprising a container, electrodessealed therein, a gaseous atmosphere therein, and a mixture of oxide andcarbonate compounds in said container adapted to evolve gas when heated,the oxygen evolved by the oxide compound transforming to a gaseous statethe solid carbon

